other accoutrements of an organization which is devoid of autocracy and dictatorship.

The fact that the Pan American club is an activity which allows for freedom of discussion in planning naturally causes the planners to assume responsibilities. In this organization, based as it is upon the solid ground of understanding and inclusive as it is of the fraternity among the Americas, failures are more reprehensible than those in a club organized for somewhat less serious purposes. The members soon realize that they have a share in promoting inter-American cooperation. If, for example, the member of the Ski Club fails to arrange for transportation, only the personnel of the Ski Club are disappointed. If, however, the member of the Pan American club, charged with making contact with Latin Americans in his community, fails in his responsibility, he not only disappoints the members of his club, but he fails to promote inter-American friendship.

INFLUENCE ON THE SCHOOL

Through the years, the desire to understand our neighboring republics through knowing about their homes, their customs, their occupations, and their language has been the goal of the Pan American clubs. Sometimes by requesting new courses in the schools, the members have not only increased their own knowledge, but also have widened the horizon for others. Special courses in Spanish and Portuguese and in Latin American history and geography have been added to the curricula of some schools. Occasionally the content of OPENING LUNCHEON OF THE STUDENT CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAS HELD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN, TEX.

the Spanish courses has been shifted from emphasis on Spain to emphasis on the American republics. Some of the studies, especially Portuguese and commercial Spanish, were introduced as a part of the program of the Pan American club in certain schools; later these courses were incorporated in the curriculum. Always the number of courses increased.

There is also an opportunity open to the Pan American clubs for a wide variety of activities which affect the school life. The assembly programs presented by the clubs on days celebrating inter-American events bring to the attention of the whole school the activities of the organization. In addition to the formal presentations, there are the plays, the skits, the dances, and the fiestas which the Pan American clubs sponsor at intervals throughout the school term.

INFLUENCE ON THE COMMUNITY

The Pan American club provides outlets for individual or group endeavor in wider circles than those of the single biweekly meetings and school-wide programs. Opportunities are constantly being presented to make contacts in the broader sphere of community relationships, and in many areas the influence of the Pan American clubs has been felt.

The opportunities for the Pan American club to serve in the community depend upon many conditions: Size of organization, school regulations, available resources, and community need. One of the most pressing duties of every Pan American club is to survey what kinds of programs may be carried on most advantageously and what kinds of programs are the most necessary. For example, in some communities the Pan American club may discover that an organized seminar or discussion group could study the problems of race-the problems of people with different customs and color working and living together. In other localities, programs may be arranged and presented for civic organizations, such as the Kiwanis, Lions, and Rotary, for church groups, for U. S. O. clubs, and for women's clubs. In other places, especially in the larger cities, the Pan American club may introduce visitors from the other Americas to the community.

These extracurricular activities are far-reaching, for they contribute to the intellectual and cultural development of both the community and the students. In learning about cultures different from his own, and in participating in community projects, the student discovers that his knowledge is alive and real. He then transfers to his actions what he has learned. The correct foreign pronunciation of geographical names may impel a young Pan American club member to repress a derisive snicker at hearing a foreign tongue on the street or in the trolley car. Or the customs of a people may be emphasized and pointed out. In a Southwestern town, for example, a devout, retiring Mexican woman had spent years making an elaborate naci

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miento (representation of the manger scene) for her home at Christmas time, and Mexican friends from far and near went annually to see the scene. It occurred to a resourceful Pan American club member who had discovered it that recognition of the unusual collection of tiny figures of animals and people in lifelike pose on the first Christmas Eve should be accorded the owner. The young girl called at the home of the Mexican woman and asked if a local reporter might be allowed to see the wonderful miniature representation with a view to writing an article about it. When permission was granted, a reporter called and was so impressed with the scene and the history of the quiet lady that the story was featured in the local paper and brought many more reverently admiring citizens to see it. Or again, legends like that of the poinsettia, dances like the tango and the rumba, and songs like the corridos of Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela have been used to help explain our southern neighbors to the Pan American club members in the United States.

Through knowledge and appreciation of other cultures the club member is enlarging his horizons so that he may develop not only an inter-American viewpoint but an international one. Since the entire process of achieving a world view is one of growth, it is auspicious that the Pan American clubs concentrate their energies on learning to understand their neighbors; then the transference to other peoples of other lands will be a gradual progression in the educational development of the members.

One of the most heartening aspects of this organization is that the members themselves are cognizant not only of the immediate purpose but also of the larger aim which encompasses intercultural as well as inter-American education. From Venezuela, La Guardia de Honor del Libertador states in a message to the young people of all the American republics:

Our institution has as its object the preparation of youth for the fulfillment of moral and civic duty by means of rehearsal of citizenship which, commencing in childhood, will continue all through life striving thus to develop citizens who know how to play with honor and dignity the part that God and society have entrusted to them. . . . May the protecting shadow of Bolívar rise and defend our ideals of international companionship. The report from Venezuela is indicative of progress toward interAmerican cooperation. The preparation and development of youth who will act with honor and dignity in a world society is an aim of all Pan American clubs. Even though it may not be the only organization with so lofty a purpose, the Pan American club, through its influence on the individual, on the school, and on the community contributes significantly to the promotion of understanding among the Americas, and through this activity is laying ground work for worldwide cooperation in the future.

ORGANIZATION OF A PAN AMERICAN CLUB

It is assumed that a group of students has been led to express an interest in and a desire to join the proposed inter-American organization. If no such interest has been expressed, the teacher or students bent upon forming the club should certainly stimulate it or let the matter drop altogether. Usually the mere suggestion that a Pan American club is to be organized in school is sufficient to invite a flood of questions about what the club will be like and how the members will be selected.

Whether the club is a class-time activity or an after-school interest will determine to some extent the type of program to be followed. If a class-time activity, it should, naturally require the active participation of all the members and the measurement of definite progress made. If a leisure-time activity, much more elasticity is allowable in the number of members participating and in the kind of activities in which they engage. In the leisure-time type of club the adviser must reckon on the social features of the meetings, especially in the smaller communities where school and school activities occupy most of the time and attention of the young people.

Whatever their subject fields may be, Pan American club advisers will find assistance with the details of organization and meetings and clear statements of the purposes and objects of Pan American clubs in a number of manuals prepared for the purpose.2

Membership Standards

In a club which meets at class time, the membership includes the whole class automatically. If the club is an organization apart from the class, experience has proved that some standards of membership are desirable. Average or better marks in the subject field which sponsors the club, good-conduct marks, recommendation of an applicant by a number of students and teachers, and proof of interest in the aims of the club might be considered as criteria for membership. Democratic Procedures

Club advisers should exercise care to see that democratic principles are followed in the organization, that parliamentary rules are observed in the election of officers, and that a constitution is properly drawn up and adopted. It should be remembered that the club exists for the education, training, and interest of the student members, and that it ought to provide opportunity for students to witness the processes of a democratic organization and to take part in its workings.

Initiation and Insignia

Students enjoy initiation ceremonies, and a simple yet appropriate ritual stressing inter-American cooperation can be devised if the policy

? The names of manuals for organization may be found in the list of "Suggested Sources of Program Aids."

of the school does not discourage or forbid such features of clubs. In most high schools, however, there is no objection to the use of such devices as initiations and appropriate club emblems for organizations recognized by the school authorities.

Colors. Since white and blue appear most frequently in the flags of the 21 American republics, they might be selected for Pan American club colors. Another appropriate set of colors for this purpose is red, yellow, and green-three colors which also appear frequently in the flags of the 21 American republics.

Because the purchase of metal pins is discouraged in wartime, the use of bits of crepe paper, cut in squares of different sizes and superimposed one on the other, make inexpensive yet effective emblems. for members to wear. Other devices may be invented by individual clubs.

Mottoes. An appropriate motto is another club feature which appeals to students in the Pan American club, and, at the same time, calls attention to the aim of the club. Some suggestions are:

Courtesy Austin High School, El Paso, Tex.

FLAG OF THE AMERICAS

Flags. A flag may be used as an emblem for the Pan American club and an explanation of its history and significance makes an effective program number.

The Flag of the Americas is a beautiful banner designed by Capt. Angel Camblor, of Uruguay, and first raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, on October 12, 1932, under the sponsorship of the distinguished Uruguayan poetess, Juana de Ibarbourou. On December 23, 1933,